Pirates' Paul Skenes Explains Why He Changed His Stance on MLB's ABS System in Video

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes revealed Thursday that he has done an about-face regarding Major League Baseball's ABS system after previously having reservations about it.

During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Skenes explained that some questionable calls against him by home-plate umpires last season resulted in him being more open to the implementation of ABS challenges:

"I wanna say last year I had more pitches in the zone get called balls against me than pitches that were balls get called strikes," Skenes said. "So, now I'm all for it. I've totally flipped my stance on it. I'm all for it. It's great."

Skenes also expressed his belief that ABS has "definitely helped the game," adding that it has been "fun to watch."

After previously testing the ABS system in the minor leagues and during spring training, Major League Baseball instituted it this year for the first time ever in regular-season games.

Batters, pitchers and catchers are permitted to challenge balls and strikes, and each team gets at least two such challenges per game.

If a challenge is successful, the team keeps their challenge and can challenge again. A team does not run out of challenges until it gets two of them wrong.

Per Baseball Savant, 55 percent of challenges so far this season have resulted in overturned calls. The success rate on challenges for pitchers and catchers is 58 percent, compared to a 52 percent success rate for batters.

Skenes provided some additional insight into his ABS philosophy, noting that he plans to never challenge a call, instead placing that decision in the hands of his catchers.

The 23-year-old Skenes has quickly established himself as one of the top pitchers in the game, earning All-Star and National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, and winning the NL Cy Young Award last season in addition to another All-Star nod.

Over his first two MLB seasons, Skenes went 21-13 with a 1.96 ERA and 386 strikeouts in 320.2 innings pitched.

Skenes' 2026 campaign got off to a rough start, allowing four hits, two walks and five earned runs in just 0.2 innings pitched against the New York Mets on Opening Day.

However, Skenes bounced back with a far more familiar performance on Wednesday, allowing just three hits, two walks and one run with five strikeouts in five innings during a win over the Cincinnati Reds.